Detectives investigating claims missing Inverkip woman is living with travellers in England

Detectives investigating the disappearance of a vulnerable woman from Inverkip say they can not rule out claims she is living with the travelling community in England.

36 year-old Margaret Fleming was reported missing by her carers in October last year but there's been no independent sighting of her since 1999.

Police Scotland says there is no evidence to support the rumors but it is a line on enquiry

The rumour about Margaret’s supposed secret life has become rife in Inverkip and nearby Greenock, with one resident saying: “The story being told by some of the couple’s friends is that Margaret is absolutely fine and residing at a traveller site in England.

“While most people regard it is implausible, it’s inevitable that some might believe it.

“Even more extraordinary is another suggestion that Margaret had been arrested by the police in relation to drugs."

Cairney and Jones have said nothing in public since the police issued a public plea for information last December. But Jones has now broken her 10-month silence.

Refusing to answer a series of questions put to her about Margaret, Jones would only say: “Nothing untoward has happened, nothing”.

When asked about the traveller rumour circulating, she replied: “I know that.”

Jones, who often walks with sticks, spends time in the overgrown garden of the house with their ageing pet Alsatian dog, added: “There’s no heat on me. We’re not suspected of anything, we’re not being investigated. We’re just witnesses.

“Most of what I’ve read has been rubbish.”

A Major Investigation Team spent months conducting a painstaking forensic probe of the cottage and its sprawling garden edging the banks of the Firth of Clyde.

They have also spoken with more than 1,200 people and agencies in the UK and abroad, taking more than 500 statements, but no-one else has seen Margaret for the past 18 years.

Detective Superintendent Paul Livingstone, who is leading the probe, previously said that something ‘sinister’ may have happened.

Inverclyde Council served a demolition order on the five-bedroom property called Seacroft because it is unfit for human habitation.

But two weeks ago Jones won a temporary reprieve against demolition and eviction until an appeal is heard at Greenock Sheriff Court on September 28.

The house is in a squalid condition with electricity supplied by generator while some rooms were virtually inaccessible due to hoarding of possessions.

Jones has been living in the house alone with their dog - while Cairney stayed for several weeks at the three-star Tontine Hotel in Greenock.

The former deep sea diver, who is thought to have worked at the Royal Navy nuclear submarine base at nearby Faslane, was a familiar sight in the hotel’s bar.

Since checking out on September 8, he has not returned to Seacroft. Jones claimed: “He’s in England just now.”

One local said: “It’s very strange that Jones is left to fend for herself in this dump while Cairney has been living it up in a decent hotel. Where he is now is a mystery.

"He's pretty well known in Greenock and he used to always talk about his diving exploits."

A friend of the couple, builder Danny Campbell, has been helping with work on the house.

He said: “Mr Cairney doesn’t want anyone in touch with him. His friends are very protective. As a friend, it’s my job to protect him, it’s as simple as that.”

The extensive police search in and around Seacroft involved police helicopter, divers and dogs.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “This line of enquiry is being investigated but so far there is nothing to confirm that it is the case and our enquiries are continuing.